Thirty years after Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci wowed Olympic judges at the Montreal Olympics, a tribute to that "Perfect 10" performance has been beamed toward the stars via the Deep Space Communications Network.
The transmission was arranged by Romanian-Gymnastics.com as a publicity exercise to mark the anniversary. Deep Space, which is based in Cape Canaveral, Fla., uses TV transmission equipment usually devoted to space coverage to beam signals up into clear space instead - in hopes that the telecast will someday come within range of an extraterrestrial civilization. So will Comaneci's performance ever thrill an alien audience?
We've discussed the Deep Space idea before, and the verdict has been that such ventures are better-suited to publicizing yourself on Earth rather than publicizing our presence to the universe. Even Deep Space estimates that the signal would extend only as far as 1 to 3 light-years before fizzling out - not even far enough to reach the next star past the sun.
And Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, told me last year that a commercial-quality TV signal would be lucky to make it out as far as a light-year, even if it were sent via the world's largest single radio antenna, the 1,000-foot-wide Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
In a news release issued today, Romanian-Gymnastics.com editor Victor Dumitrescu stressed the symbolism of the transmission: ""We were looking for a unique way to celebrate one of the unique and truly perfect achievements in human sport. With DSCN's help, we pointed to space and let if fly. We have honored Nadia's achievement for all of time and space, symbolically and literally."
Deep Space general manager Jim Lewis, meanwhile, said there's always hope that a stray E.T. will be tuning in.
"We can only continue to send messages and hope someone or something sees them and understands we have something valuable to offer the universe," Lewis said in the news release. "The way we see it, if there is someone out there receiving radio waves from this planet, Earth is getting some pretty bad press. Basically, they'd be seeing what we're seeing on the evening news: war, famine, strife and struggle. Perhaps now they will see there is also unmatched beauty and grace on our little green ball as well."
By the way, time hasn't stood relativistically still for Comaneci. She's married to fellow gymnast Bart Conner and just last month gave birth to the couple's first child. Check out this Wikipedia dossier for more on the past and present "Perfect 10."